Unionized employees at Labor Department agencies have received notices regarding the number of proposed furlough days their agency expects them to take during the remainder of fiscal year 2013, with the number of proposed days varying widely by agency.

Alex Bastani, president of Local 12 of the American Federation of Government Employees, told BNA that no furloughs are expected through the Sept. 30 end of fiscal year 2013 due to sequestration for employees of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, and the Wage and Hour Division.

For other DOL agencies, he said, proposed furloughs are as follows:

•  Veterans' Employment and Training Services - 10 days or less;

• Administrative Law Judge Programs - eight days or less;

• Business Operations Center - eight days or less;

• Office of Workers' Compensation Programs - six days or less;

• Employment and Training Administration - five days or less;

• Office of Labor Management Standards - five days or less;

• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs - five days or less; and

•  Office of the Solicitor - two days or less.

Bastani noted that the number of furlough days identified in the notices will not necessarily be the final number for the affected employees. Depending on the agencies' resources, he said, employees may be furloughed for fewer days than proposed.

According to Bastani, AFGE Local 12 represents approximately 3,300 DOL employees. AFGE's National Council of Field Labor Locals represents another 8,500 DOL employees, he said, estimating that DOL as a whole has approximately 15,000 employees.

In other public sector news:

• The House passed legislation (H.R. 933) to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, but the measure would leave sequestration in place and also includes provisions prolonging the federal pay freeze through the remainder of calendar year 2013.

• The Senate unveiled a substitute amendment to H.R. 933 to fund the government through the end of FY 2013. Like the House version, however, it would prolong the federal pay freeze until the end of the calendar year, meaning that federal employees are unlikely to see the 0.5 percent pay increase called for by President Obama in his FY 2013 budget proposal and again in an executive order issued in December 2012. 

• Unions representing university professors and public school teachers in Michigan announced new long-term labor contracts, locking in dues requirements before a state law banning union security clauses takes effect March 27 and leading Republicans in the state legislature to argue that the agreements violate the intent of the new law. 

• Members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, which represents some 6,000 faculty members at 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, ratified a four-year contract that provides for a first-year wage freeze followed by across-the-board pay increases totaling 4 percent over the next three years.